A Children’s Shop from a Bygone Era

January 12, 2018

This January instead of trying to predict the latest trends for 2018, I decided to focus on “anti-trends”… timelessly classic rooms that will stand the test of time. It struck a chord, and I have been blown away by the encouraging comments, emails, and page views The Glam Pad has received this month! (Thank you, thank you, thank you for each and every one!!!) In December, I posted a timelessly elegant 1930s home decorated for Christmas and featured in the November-December 1995 issue of Southern Accents (RIP). It received such a positive response that it helped make my decision for this month’s theme an easy one.

Today, I am featuring another blast from the past… Suzy Hilfiger’s former children’s shop, Best & Co., which was located in Greenwich, Connecticut and featured in the September 1999 issue of House & Garden. I found these scrumptious images via Kay at the fabulous blog Hydrangea Hill. Kay has graciously permitted me to share her scanned images here today, and I will also include the original captions from the magazine (which I purchased on eBay promptly after discovering Kay’s post!)

Hilfiger’s vision for Best & Co. was to create a timeless, classic children’s store that would serve as “a kind of hometown department store with everything from clothes to furnishings, so that parents needn’t shop at five different locations,” she said. The result was an English country paradise complete with traditional wallpaper and carpeting, chintz, and antique English cabinets to display infant and toddler wear, hairbrushes, and layettes. Also included were early 19th century floral prints and needlepoint samplers, antique high chairs, and hand-painted furniture from Dragons of Walton Street in London.

Susie Hilfiger sits on a chair cushion covered in Cowtan & Tout’s Clara Fabric. The room’s furniture is from Best & Co.

The sconces and plates are also available through Best & Co. The wallpaper is Clover Leaf from Cowtan & Tout.

A child’s room designed by Hilfiger brings back tradition. The canopies, curtains, and chairs are covered in Roses & Pansies from Cowtan & Tout. The beds are from Dragons. The rocking benches are available through Best & Co.

The canopy is trimmed with Louisa fringe from Cowtan & Tout.

The antique canopy crib and Beatrix Potter bedding is from Dragons, a British shop for children’s furnishings. Best & Co. is the exclusive showroom in the U.S. for Dragons.

The wallpaper is Colefax & Fowler’s Cordelia. The chair is upholstered in Rose Cumming’s Royal Swag in ice blue. The custom-panted chair set is from Dragons.

The covered closet doors were custom-made by Best & Co. to display Tommy Hilfiger clothes.

The rocking horse is handmade in Kent, England, and can be ordered with a child’s name. The crib can be ordered through Dragons.

A keen attention to service and orderly atmosphere characterize the store. Along the walls are antique lace christening gown; Susie’s own Best & Co. label; and a rack of Tommy Hilfiger shirts, khakis, and blue blazers for boys.

A second store was eventually opened on Nantucket. But alas, Best & Co. closed in 2007, and the Hilfiger’s marriage soon followed suit (tour Susie’s incredible Nantucket home here). I am delighted that Hydrangea Hill documented these pictures of another time and another place.

Thank you, Kay, for the beautiful inspiration! It is time for shelter magazines, designers, and antique dealers to get the memo that “traditional” and “pretty” interiors are desperately missed…. and slowly but surely they seem to be getting on board. My mother’s generation loves this style because it is how they decorated their homes back in the “good old days.” My generation loves this style because it is nostalgic of what we grew up with. And for the younger generation, 30-year-old trend setter Alice Naylor-Leyland summed it up best when she said, “I like using chintz and florals because they haven’t been seen for a while so, ironically, they look fresh and new.” We will talk more about chintz on Monday. 🙂

Photography by Fernando Bengochea and copy by Tom Connor for the September 1999 issue of House & Garden.

This was such a lovely shop. What a pity it is gone now. I’m grateful that the Duchess of Cambridge is choosing to dress her children in a traditional way. She is such a trendsetter, and whatever she does sells out immediately in the stores. Thanks, Andrea for “keeping up the side” with regard to traditional decor. Your efforts will not go unnoticed. Classic never goes out of style. Now if we could just get the word out to more of the decorators that people are tired of bland banality disguised as “neutral” and “serene.”

I love these rooms! Gosh they look so fresh! I really lament the shuttering of Best & co as the clothes were gorgeous. Funny to me is that I usually fall for the decor and merchandising of a store, less so the actual merch. Not in the case of Best & co which did both perfectly! Thank you for these inspiring pics Andrea! Xo

And Andrea, I am redoing my girls’ bedrooms and they want modern but I have found myself nixing that direction as its all looking cheap to me now instead of “clean” as such interiors are usually described. I found myself telling them this look is on the way out and I’m unwilling to spend the money for what is already dated. So I think you are right. Traditional is a better investment. Fortunately my daughters are coming ’round! Xo

So pretty and fresh! I am amazed at how modern and new these traditional interiors look. I do think the 20 and 30 somethings are jumping on board. Even my daughter, who is 16, is pining for old fashioned things. I’ll give you an example:the latest Instagram viral video all her friends at school are watching is a black and white rendition of “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” by Paul Anka! These girls are swooning (to use an old-fashioned term) over him, as am I over the beautiful rooms you are posting. Many thanks from Houston.

There is something in our soul that requires softness and beauty. The same reason we will always listen to classical music compositions we look at well composed colors and pattern. There will always be trends in the ebb and flow of any type of design in all types of works by designers. It is important to know that although this occurs, there are basic rules in what attracts our senses -and that is beauty. Thank you for refreshing this aspect in your post- especially showcasing some of the most creative minds of our time.

Just like the wonderful Standards in music never go out of style and each generation seems to do a new version of the Standards I am hoping the same will apply to Decorating. Personally I feel pretty never goes out of style. I have always decorated this way and have never had anyone come to my home that did not like it even if they would never decorate that way themselves. Have actually been referred to as ‘Brave’ for using so much color and so many prints!?